Duality

Discussions regarding the nature of duality:

DUALITY MATRIX

”What is the harm, ye ask, in not distinguishing oneself? If we do not distinguish, we get beyond our own nature, away from creatura. We fall into indistinctiveness, which is the other quality of the pleroma. We fall into the pleroma itself and cease to be creatures. We are given over to dissolution in the nothingness. This is the death of the creature. Therefore we die in such measure as we do not distinguish.”

(from Septem Sermones ad Mortuos, written by Basilides in Alexandria, the City where the East touches the West)

oneness in duality

Oneness in Duality on the Path of Painting

by Pierre Wittmann

What is duality? Literally duality is the coexistence of two things of different nature, but actually it is the process of differentiation. From the differentiation of two things, the ten thousand things are born, variety and diversity develop, and the universe expands, with its incalculable number of particles, atoms, molecules, cells, living beings, plants, rocks, mountains, rivers, seas, continents, planets, stars, galaxies… all separate from each other, and separate from their creator, the mind that observes them. Separation creates duality of subject and object. From duality of subject and object comparison arises, with all pairs of opposites: big and small, near and far, good and bad, beautiful and ugly, pleasant and unpleasant… Pairs of opposites breed judgements, judgements produce concepts, and concepts make up the world. In the world, the relationships between subjects and objects create the feelings of likes and dislikes, and all kinds of emotions: attachment, hatred, pride, desire, fear, joy, love, compassion, equanimity… As even the purest of these emotions arise from duality and are impermanent, they cannot bring us complete freedom and fulfilment, and the world of duality is always beset with difficulties.

Now what is oneness? It is obviously the opposite of duality. Oneness is the situation in which there are not two things, but only one thing, there is no differentiation, but identification. In oneness there is no diversity, no separation, no subject and object, no comparisons, no pairs of opposites, no judgements, no concepts, no relationships, no feelings and no emotions. This situation seems very different from the world we see around us, and very unlikely to ever occur to us. If we want to understand how oneness can occur, we must first discover the primordial cause of duality, and if we can suppress this cause, oneness will remain. The primordial cause of duality is very simple, it is time. Time allows us to perceive different and separate things, and to compare them. Two different things must be separate, either in time or in space. If two things are separate in time, even if they happen at the same place, one is happening before the other, and we need to live in time, to wait, to perceive them both. If two things are separate in space, are located in two different places, we need time to go from one place to the other. Even if they are close to each other, our mind, which cannot perceive two different things at the same time, needs time to go from one thing to the other, or to go from itself, the subject, to the object.

What does it mean to suppress time? First, on the level of physics, it means that the whole process of the universe, - where everything, from particles to living beings and to galaxies, is impermanent and constantly moving -, will stop, and everything will become permanent and perfectly still. But, as the nature and localisation of things are conditioned by previous causes and by temporal interrelations, it would be impossible, without time, to know the actual nature and localisation of things, because the past information that should define them would not be available. But it does not mean, however, that things have disappeared and don't exist. To use a simile, the situation would look like the projection of all possible phenomena on the surface of a sphere. The surface of a sphere is a good representation of oneness, because, though it is finite, it has no beginning and end, and though it abides in space, none of its points can be differentiated from another. The projected phenomena would not manifest in perceptible forms, but would all be contained in the blank surface of the sphere. A bright clear light would radiate from the sphere, produced by the superposition of the light images of all the projected phenomena. If we take out the projected images of the infinite array of potential phenomena except one, this one will manifest in its precise perceptible form. The bright clear light of oneness, even if it seems empty of any sign or form, contains them all, it is the melting pot of all phenomena, and the womb of omniscience.

Now, on the human level, how can we approach the situation of oneness? Of course, with our physical body, we cannot live in a world without time, neither as a mere projection of light on a sphere. What we can do, however, is to live in the present moment, only in the present moment, in one present moment after another, with constant mindfulness of every successive flash of consciousness, without distraction. Distraction is jumping in the past - in memories -, or in the future - in imaginations, desires, fears, expectations, plans -, and then, comparing and judging the present on the base of the past or the future. These travels in time are the primordial causes for the arising of duality in the mind. The present moment is oneness, it is permanent, eternal, and completely still, and it contains infinite potentialities. In oneness, we are never separate from the present moment, we are the present moment, we are infinite potentialities, we are omniscience, and we radiate love and peace. But as soon as distraction arises, we fall again in time and in duality, and lose sight of the infinite potentialities of oneness. We fall again in ignorance, and forget that we are omniscient. Our love and peace dim, the stillness of eternity vanishes, and we are compelled to struggle again in the restlessness of the world. But hopefully, the experience of oneness will not forget us…

The experience of oneness can manifest at different levels. The pure experience of the blank clear light only happens in meditative states, it is not perceptible by our physical senses, but only by the mind. As it is formless, it cannot be represented by a painting, as it is non-conceptual, it cannot be expressed by language. At the level of our physical senses functioning in the world, we cannot completely suppress time, and even the present moment, the shortest flashes of sense consciousness that we can perceive, have a duration in time, and the appearance of oneness is no more a blank clear light, because colors and forms have time to arise in these very short moments. Nevertheless the duration of one moment of consciousness is too short for the formation of precise figurative concepts. The colors and forms that arise are what the artist sees, when his vision transcends time and the duality of the figurative perception of the world. These abstract patterns may seem random and chaotic, but they may well be the web of primordial reality arising from the clear light of oneness. In his timeless play with the infinite potentialities of colors and forms, even in a world of duality, the artist can always pick the bloom of oneness!

Re: Duality

Thanks, Opening. I'd never heard of Pierre Wittmann. I looked him up and found the illustrations for the text you quote here

Love,

Nicole

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Time only exists in relation to thought.  When there is no thought there is no time or awareness of time.  The present moment has no duration in time it is always only now. 

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Duality is an excellent talking point! In the duo, one half cannot exist without the other half. They define each other by being the opposite of one another. Oneness is the unity of the 2 halves. and what do you get when 2 halves cancel out? Nothing. Yin-yang man. yin-yang.
   Another Duality is in physics of a photon of light being both a particle and a wave. Try to picture that!!! And furthermore they've 'proven' that larger objects like you and me and planets also have the wave charateristic. We are a walking, talking Duality. Part of the universe and yet apart from it. but maybe that apart part is just in our heads, our dominating perceptions of 'reality'. and we never truly are away from it all, it just seems that way, for now. and we are sure to return to it fully and in that death, peace of a mind that no longer needs manifest every aspect of our experience. and maybe its actually easier to see the world this way. simpler. Bask in it's truth and profound genius. Of course genius and truth are just people words, and there truly aren't any words for it but it's sure fun to talk about. ;)

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Chuck,

There is a really cool, illustrated, explanation of duality in physics at the following link:

http://www.physics.uci.edu/~silverma/quantum.ppt#279,2,OUTLINE

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Opening, that is a very good presentation, thanks! Chuck, yeah, love those wavicles :) and ricosoma, I think time does exist without thought - a tree growing in the forest ages but does not think, at least, as far as I know. Even non-living things are subject to time - rocks erode, sands shift…

Love,

Nicole

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Opening, thanks for the video reference but I run on dial-up internet here and it is Weak. Can't handle it. I'll just have to do with having my head explode. Double-slit, right? super-positiion, crazy stuff! interfering with itself !?!
Is Time a particle or a wave? or both?

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“Now what is oneness? It is obviously the opposite of duality. Oneness is the situation in which there are not two things, but only one thing, there is no differentiation, but identification.”

It is not so obviously so- there are other perspectives of equal validity.  Take for instance, it could be said that the idea of opposites only exists from within Duality- not from within Oneness.  As such, the above quotation is speaking from a place of dualism about Oneness.  Which is fun and useful- but not necessarily accurate.

From Oneness (which may not be really superior to duality but isn't the same either) it might be said instead:

i see you and so there are two,
looking, one.

This quotation about Oneness and duality seems to me to be another reflection of our dualistic thinking which gives us great and useful technologies through our exploration of differentiation- but also leaves us in a mental rut of opposites.  Opposites are not everything and Oneness is not about opposites, but rather seems to me to be about Connections and Experiences.

Also, the experience of Oneness is very everyday and does not require an experience of pure light or a blank mind.  Reading these words and drinking coffee- you are reading these words and drinking coffee at One.  If you think about this then you make two, but the One remains and becomes visible as soon as you look to the words and coffee.  The two is in the One but the One is not in the two.  Or the One is but the two arises and sets.  Oneness is always happening.

Most of this stuff is really just definitions!


Great post, though.  Thanks.

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Duality in the spiritual context is perceiving anything as separate and apart from myself. 

That is what makes sense knowledge completely unreliable.

Anything that is perceived via the senses is subject to change, impermanent and therefore not real.

Duality is an illusion.

In peace and love

an eccentric Aussie

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Nicole,

What I was trying to convey is that time is a conceptual construct.  It only exists in thought.  One is only aware of time when one thinks.  Time and duality for that matter does not exist in the space between 2 thoughts.  When one thinks about the passage of time

“Even non-living things are subject to time - rocks erode, sands   shift…”

Time exists since one experiences what one thinks about.  

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Good morning, ricosoma, Andrew, davie and Chuck!

ricosoma: my brain must be very slow waking up today (I can still blame jet lag lol), sorry that I missed your meaning and am still not getting it. Not to worry though, I will continue to ponder and perhaps will arrive there in the end.

Andrew:

Anything that is perceived via the senses is subject to change, impermanent and therefore not real.

Ok, this is helping me grasp what ricosoma may have been getting at (or not! my apologies in advance if I'm making a false connection, ricosoma!)

The more I think on this, the more I wonder. Is duality an illusion or just a superficial impression of a deeper reality, which is oneness?

davie:

This quotation about Oneness and duality seems to me to be another reflection of our dualistic thinking which gives us great and useful technologies through our exploration of differentiation- but also leaves us in a mental rut of opposites.  Opposites are not everything and Oneness is not about opposites, but rather seems to me to be about Connections and Experiences.

Also, the experience of Oneness is very everyday and does not require an experience of pure light or a blank mind.  Reading these words and drinking coffee- you are reading these words and drinking coffee at One.  If you think about this then you make two, but the One remains and becomes visible as soon as you look to the words and coffee.  The two is in the One but the One is not in the two.  Or the One is but the two arises and sets.  Oneness is always happening.

Most of this stuff is really just definitions!

Exactly. Well said! We need poets to help us sort through these deep matters.

Chuck: dial-up? I feel your pain! It's been quite a while but I remember the horror of trying to navigate Gaia on dial-up… shuddering

Love and peace,

Nicole

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The way I see it is that time is a measurement of the movements of the planets.  Monitoring the movements gives us a point of reference, “I am here” type of thing.  Duality is of the same type of thing.  One has to give recognition to the nature of things in order to give recogntion to one's self and one's existence.  You have to give recogntion to time and duality in order to get to Oneness, or else there is no need to reach.  We do not, or I do not, at this time, perceive a Oneness that is constant, to the point that I no longer need a point of reference.  Even this perception, or lack there of, is a point of reference.  Perceptions are what the physcial plane is about (to all of you POA folks out there).  What I seek is to remember the point of the whole exercise of Beingness.  Yes, I think there is a point to the whole thing.  Is there anything that is pointless? 

This is the nature of living on the physical plane.  To maintain our tie to this plane, one has give recognition to where we are within it.  If we do not maintain our tie, we die.  The realities of this physical plane are part of the One.  We must eat, we must rest, we must work, etc.  This physical plane, and our ability to give recognition to duality, time, our “selves”, is part of the “miracle” of the Oneness, of our Being.  It is the comtemplation of ourselves and all that is within our sphere of existence that  takes us beyond the physical to the “ALL”.  The physical does not just fall away.  It only recedes in our consideration in terms of, in that moment, being that which is our point of reference.  But, it doesn't go anywhere.  It is the message that we are here to deliver, experience, and live. At least this is how I see it, at least in this moment in time.  And, at the same time, in all of this, I am once again giving defintion to the aspect of things and further defining that which is within my point of reference. 

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Yes, Opening, that's it, embracing the experiences of being embodied though it can be tempting to try to reject it in favour of more uninterrupted Oneness.

Thank you! Very, very helpful.

Love,

Nicole

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I want to add that we cannot, without great energy, change the properties of the physical plane (nucler bombs, atoms bombs).  All that can be changed is our perceptions of it.  In so doing, we change our perceptions of ourselves, and in the process, change ourselves.  It is not that we “move” or shape our physical realities.  We change, move, shape, our peceptions of it.  As we change ourselves, our perceptions of what we are, who we are, changes.  This shapes our experience of life in the physical.  This is what brings experiences, “attracts” experiences to us.  We do not create the physical, just our view of our place within it. 

The same is true of the spiritual.  That which is, is. We don't create it.  That is within the realm of the Creator.   It is what we perceive, the portion of the ALL which we allow into our perceptions, is what will shape our perceptions of it.  Ask and you shall receive.  Let him who has eyes see.  Let him who has ears hear.

What about this, that which we allow into our perceptions of the spiritual, that which we are open to perceive, will change our perceptions within the physical, and vice versa?

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Exactly, since Energy is a function of matter times the square of the speed of light (a very large number!).

But perception or attention itself is much more powerful than we typically allow. Again I think of the video by Adyashanti that I posted here yesterday from Zennie's blog about the power of attention

The same is true of the spiritual.  That which is, is. We don't create it.  That is within the realm of the Creator.   It is what we perceive, the portion of the ALL which we allow into our perceptions, is what will shape our perceptions of it.  Ask and you shall receive.  Let him who has eyes see.  Let him who has ears hear.

I never looked at those scriptures this way. That makes a heck of a lot more sense! Thank you,

Love,

Nicole

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There is a old Zen “aphorism” ;  “What does one do before Satori (enlightenment)?  Carry water chop wood.  What does one do after Satori? Carry water chop wood.”

Becoming aware of the space between 2 thoughts  does not preclude one from functioning in the world.  In fact when one attains some level of control over what thoughts one entertains, the world becomes an easier place to live in. 

Duality is not the nature of things (forgive me Opening if I'm misinterpreting what you are saying).  Duality exists only in the mind.  “Nothing is good or bad but thinking makes it so” as Shakespeare once said.  A tree exists independent of what we think about it.  If I look at a tree but the thought tree doesn't enter my mind the tree still exists.

Thought is necessary to function in the world.  Uncontrolled thought is what makes living difficult.

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That saying is one of my favourites, and just right to illustrate your point. More and more light is shining in! Many thanks.

Thought is necessary to function in the world.  Uncontrolled thought is what makes living difficult.

This is so true. I will never forget what it was like to go through transition during the birth of my children, especially the second time when I felt so overwhelmed by pain because I hadn't had the epidural. It was almost unbearable, while being able to stay focussed would have made it much easier.

Light and peace,

Nicole

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Yes, I agree with what you said.  Becoming aware of the space between the two thoughts, becoming aware that we can be aware of the space, does not prevent us from functioning, it aids in our functioning.  My take on duality is that an awareness of duality takes us to the awareness of the space.  You have the one to get to the other.  Some folks may be able to skip this step.  I can't.  In order to understand that the space is there, I had to first see the duality within the ALL, including me.  That is where you get to the expanding of perceptions, the ability to increase that which I perceive, or the process to getting there.  Kind of, I had to perceive myself as meager in order to allow myself to become Big.  It was not the end that was important, it was the process to that end that was important. 

As much as some folks may hate it, I am going to call into example Jesus here.  When he looked upon the meager, he saw the Big, and the route they had taken to get to the meager from the original Big of creation, and how those perceptions could be changed in the blink of an eye and so the Big called into Being.

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What about this, that which we allow into our perceptions of the spiritual, that which we are open to perceive, will change our perceptions within the physical, and vice versa?


That's pretty much what I've been saying here and in the The ego and the self-reflecting world thread.  If you examine the process closely you might find that perceptions are determined by what we think. 

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I guess what hangs me up is the thing about the ego.  My thing is that, the ego is released as we submit to God, take a trip to the spiritual and become enlightened.  We let go to Him and ego has less hold.  I perceive this as a reality within the Spritual.  God is the vehicle of change, not us.  It is in recongizing this, that we are able to let go and then the perceptions change.  To do this without consideration of the Supreme, will not bring about lasting and change that moves us and allows us to do that in the physcial which will aid the ALL.  We remain separated in our ability to truly consider the ALL, for we are missing its source.  I think that in seeking to consider ourselves, perceive ourselves, as the vehicle of this change and not our Creator, we are in fact hanging on to the ego.  Doing this is the never ending trap of the ego.

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I think I am going to have to go back and re-read that thread about the ego and the self-reflecting world, ricosoma. I just may have a better insight now!

I'm very glad you brought in Jesus as an example Opening, as he is my light and inspiration in my life in general and this sense specifically as well, and in my opinion very germane to what we are discussing.

Peace and joy,

Nicole

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once you pick a path you start seeing negative/positive

It's all in relation to your path. 

Christians ( my background )  see evil as those who don't follow them.
If you fit the profile of evil then you must be on the other side.

New agers would say if you don't agree with them then
you are negative hence same ocean different boat.  

the list goes on & on

but if step back you'll see we're all connected — just prone to find
the polarity of the path we're on at the moment // but we can't
escape this polarity even by stepping back you'll see those that
 don't take that step with you.

They don't agree with you in spirit or otherwise so they must be
negative, evil, etc —

perhaps you choose not to label people then you will simply be
in difference with those that do label people ( no escape ) 


*********************************************************************************************


Congratulations to phoenix's wordplay winner !!!

Jackie was the winner of this weeks wordplay. 
You could be next.  The game is held
every friday right here.

Re: Duality

I do my best not to label people as this is a limitation of perceptions.  I seek to see with the eyes of Jesus.  Also, remember, Jesus was Jewish.  He was One with the one god, the One Father.  He was not a Christian and had many issues with manner in which Judism was being practiced. It wasn't the reality of mono-theism, it was the practice, the application within the world by the religious leaders that was limiting the experiece of the divine, the understanding of THE DIVINE. 

 If one opens one's mind to God without the trappings of religion and instead as a never ending well, then the possiblity of opening one's perceptions of others without judgment can become Reality within the physical.  It is when we label with religions, that we limit that which we perceive as being the functions of God. 

Now, this is quite difficult.  For instance, loving the person that keeps stepping on your toe and seeing them as being as divinely created as yourself while they are stomping on your toe.  People can choose to embody that which we call evil.  But, it is their choice.  Fear motivates this choice.  Let go and let God, ends the need to make this choice.  But, being in the physical and having one's toe stomped upon is going to be uncomfortable.  Yet, we choose the labels, not God.  We choose how we will perceive what we perceive.

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Beautifully stated, Opening!

Blessings,

Nicole

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I'm so happy that you took me up on my invitation to share your thoughts on this, Nightphoenix.

Demonising the other is very common not only in religion but in philosophy etc.

Thankfully, not all Christians (or New Agers, or… fill in the blank) fall as readily into this trap. It is a daily joy to me to be with people here in this pod and elsewhere on Gaia who deeply embrace Oneness and revel in diversity.

I found your blog and the comments that are ensuing of it very helpful in exploring another way, The Virtues of Conflict v/s The power of Agreement

I highly recommend it to those who have not yet had the chance to stop by there.

Love,

Nicole

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It looks like we're converging on the same place.  We just come at it from different directions.  My approach is that the ego is one small aspect of the individual that has an inordinate control over one's life.  The ego (ahamkara in sanskrit) works hand in hand with the “lower” mind (manas in sanskrit) to fool the individual into believing that one is a separate entity distinct from God.  This is at the heart of duality.  Once one realizes this delusion (awakens) one does all one can to stop the ego and the mind from keeping one separate from God in each and every moment. 

Where we diverge a little is that I do not make the distinction

God is the vehicle of change, not us

To me there is no separate us.  Only the illusion of separation.  A great master once said “You do not need to Realize God, God is already attained.  You only need to purify the mind. ”  The unpurified mind is the veil that stands between the individual and the Infinite. 

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It looks like we're converging on the same place.  We just come at it from different directions.

Isn't that just a beautiful summary of all of Life?

Peace,

Nicole

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You are right, but we see it the same, are just expressing it differently.  I am looking at getting from point A to point B.  First there is duality, then there is recongition of duality, then there is recognition of the space, there there is being in the One.  But, the duality is there to be recognized and to create the point of reference that one will choose.  It is all a product of Free Will, exercising the choice of what will be in one perceptions, one's reality, growing from there–like building muscle in the physical.

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Ah hah!  I have another example that pours over the planes.  One day, when I was in the sixth grade, I was sitting at my desk and this “whisper' came to me and said, “Opening (not my name then or now), there is no such thing as time.”  I looked around me, of course, and said, oh yeah, that voice to myself.  (I should add that this was the year that I was the only kid in the class, that received an A in science.  Then, I forgot I was gifted in science and chose to go into the legal field.  Yet, even in law, science has been an aspect of my work.)

Over time, I came to understand that time is a function, a tool, a point of reference, and in understanding this, I was better able to develop a concept of physical reality and the nature of eternity (not when I was in the sixth grade, this took a bit of time and remembering to go back to what I had received from that “voice”).  So, I was given this gift–a springing board.  Time aids our daily perceptions and experience in the physical and, our increased perceptions of time, aids in our perceptions and experience of the spiritual, at least it did me.  It helped to “purify my mind'.

Now, you may have come on this trip into the physcal, with a stronger rememberence of the ALL.  So, you didn't need time as a point of reference to dismiss, or to go through the process of dismissing.  Or, that may not be a function of  this “trip” for you.  For me it is.  However, I was givien something else, this spilling over of the divine into my physical world, without having to go through the step of asking for it.   Maybe my rememberence of my “other” experience is stronger than those that do not receive such “clues”.  We are all given gifts that take us to that which is who we truly ARE within the ALL, are divine manifestations of the ALL, as experienced by the ONE.  Each circumstance, good and bad, is a “gift”.  It is a function of our free will to choose to use those gifts or not, to select to perceive that which we can perceive. 

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Good point, my tendency is to long after the gifts of others - wow, what a great gift Opening got, to see time like that! - but I have barely begun to explore my own. Each of us is so rich, if we only saw it, and let it unfold fully.

Peace and light,

Nicole

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It is great at times–inspiring me to keep expanding and changing my perceptions of myself and linking all of that with God.  At times, it scares the crap out of me.  It depends on what I am “receiving” at the time it occurs.  I am not talking about ghosts and stuff like that.  I am talking about being instructed to walk to an edge (this is metaphorical) and being told to jump so that I can see myself being caught.  Too bad I am not getting the point and this is a process I keep needing,or not.

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I hear you! I too feel I need to relearn the same lessons many times,

Love,

Nicole

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I do believe we have the ability to wake people from the trance
of duality but at what cost to them.  If you recall the movie
the matrix one of the people freed was actually trying to
have himself re-inserted into the matrix.  The character
could handle the lie but not the truth.  It's easy to view
the world from one line of sight but when you start to
see other lines of sight are just as accurate you can
find yourself a little disturbed.  The observer affect
stands to reason that the eye of the beholder always
finds it's polarity within any given path.  We are all
consciousness conductors creating reality as we go
but sometimes the world is easier to see through
tunnel vision.  seeing all the lines of sight can be
hard to grasp for some and as they say 'far lesser
things have driven far wiser men to insanity'

*********************************************************************************************


Congratulations to phoenix's wordplay winner !!!

Jackie was the winner of this weeks wordplay. 
You could be next.  The game is held
every friday right here.

Re: Duality

Wow!  What great discussion!

Too much to comment on- just great material for absorbtion.  Thanks y'all fer sharing!

It's hard to talk bout this stuff sometimes.  Gets all over the place- time, perception, ego, oneness and duality… It's interesting…

I could say that there is no Oneness and have a valid point.  I could also say that Oneness is a symbol that stands for something that can be described and so say in a way that there is Oneness- and the point would still have validity from a certain perspective.  S'all about the whole view at once.

I like this gap between thoughts thing.  I don't know if you actually have to get to Oneness (as a symbol standing for a state) via duality.  It feels to me that I get to duality through Oneness and then forget the Oneness.  Later, I move my attention back to the Oneness and wa-la, there it was all along. 

In India there is a very vewry long-standing argument between yogis (thousands of years) about which is supreme- Oneness or Unity.  Their argument hasn't gotten very far in all this time… Maybe they aren't so separate.

In sufism, there are two concepts (which i may misremember) called Ahad and Wahid.  These two things represent that facet of creation which is self-manifestation and whole-manifestation.  Very neat concepts that go deeper than the words I've used here.  Very useful concepts.

Maybe Oneness is merely a useful concept.  As such, the real question is “what use may I derive from this concept?  what is it pointing at?”  Sorta like the zen story about the guy pointing at the moon and his friend, unawares of the meaning of the gesture, staring at his finger.

Anyways, great thoughts.  Y'alls rock.

hugs,
davie

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It doesn't matter if some of us have a head start in this incarnation or if we've been at it longer and may be “further” down the road.  What matters is the journey not the destination.  Truly there is no final destination.  All that really matters is now.  How much can we open up to what is always available in the here and now.

From the “Living in the Truth in the Present Moment” blog intro:

“Right now, in this moment, we can consciously connect with our own inner Self. It has been known by many names in various cultures and in different eras, yet whatever we call it, it remains as it is, and remains the one aspect of this entire cosmos that is eternally unchanging. We experience this within ourselves as our own Consciousness, our inner Awareness of Being.”

Re: Duality

Davie,

I like the points made regarding Oneness.  I really hadn't thought about it like that.  I think what you say is valid.  Oneness can be regarded as a “state”.  As such, then, I ask, is there something beyond that?  My answer to myself, and those that are reading this, is that I think that there is based on experiences.  I am not going to try to explain beyond that, because my brain just isn't willing to go there at this moment. 

Ricosoma,

There was no judgment being made by me on the nature of the experience.  It has been my experience that I had to stop and see the duality was there, that time is a point of reference, etc. in order to get to the space in between.  The space in between is just a way of describing it.   You say:  “Right now, in this moment, we can consciously connect with our own inner Self.”  I needed the points of reference to become aware that I could become aware.  Also, I had these “whispers” directing me to take my thoughts there.  They also serve a purpose on a grander scale within the functions of the physical universe.

Re: Duality

I'm not aware of any judgment in your comments.

The words you quoted from my last posting are not mine.  They were written by the author of the correspondence course “Living in the Truth of the Present Moment”, D. R. Butler.

We all approach the Truth from our own direction.  Sometimes it's helpful to get directions from one who has been there.

Re: Duality

Ricosoma,

Yep–right you are.  I have this thing though, and my son appears to have the same thing going on based on his willingness to listen to one that “has been there”, I have great difficulty accepting direction regarding these matters from other humans.  I read books to inspire me and “open doors”; but, I worry that I will follow someone down the wrong path and get “stuck”.  It may not be a wise thing, it is me.  But, I do listen to the “whispers” because they intrude upon me in a way humans cannot.

Re: Duality

davie, yes, it's very delightful, this discussion.

ricosoma and Opening, I hear you both - the helpfulness of “one who has been there”, the difficulty accepting direction from others.

Peace,

Nicole

Re: Duality

Mike makes some good points and provokes further discussion along the 'Duality' road in a new thread started here:  Non-Duality/Oneness is an Ego Game

just thought i'd take a moment to link these two threads…carry on :D

Re: Duality

Thanks, Joshua, for the link, excellent moderating, as always! :)

Love,

Nicole